Today we started a bit late, making a trip out of Berlin to the city of Potsdam, where we headed directly to the grounds of Sanssouci, Frederick the Great's palace, which has been designated "a World Heritage Centre of Culture by UNESCO" according to our guidebook. The whole thing was large and full of statues and gardens and palaces. We looked at everything from the outside so as to make it a free day (aside from the two Euros we spent on a more detailed map, the cost of a quick lunch of Wurst and Pommes Frites and round trip transportation via Regional Bahn and U-Bahn and Bus). We walked until my feet ached.
It was a lovely, overcast day with a few sprinkles of rain here and there. We both took tons of photos, Ryan trotting around with his beloved Holga and tripod, me with my digital camera, which Ryan steals every few minutes to check his light settings or whatever.
The digital camera, which Miki and Claudia gave me a couple of Christmases ago, continues to be one of the best things I own. It was very useful today. The park is 709 acres, and we probably didn't see half of it. We did, however, see the Schloss Sanssouci, the Neues Palais, the Chinesisches Haus (Chinese house), the Römische Bäder (Roman baths), the Orangerie, the Schloss Charlottenhof (a small Neo-Classical palace), and much of the grounds between these various places. While Ryan takes pictures with the Holga, I wander around, look at things, talk to security guards, and get directions from old ladies. (I love old German ladies! I need to get one. Do you think I could take one home as a souvenir?) I even had a conversation with an older man about die Artischocken. Seriously. In German. He was a little shocked because when he commented about them to me, he didn't know I was American, so when I replied in my halting German, he tried a word of English, but then I continued in German, so he reverted to his Muttersprache, and we had a nice little chat about how beautiful they are and at what stage they flower and at what stage you eat them. Then I took some pictures of them to remind myself of the encounter.
Lots of people seem to use the grounds of Sanssouci for their daily exercise, since it is freely open to the public. I saw one guy sprinting the big stairs in front of the Schloss Sanssouci and then running back down the sloping side hill; he looked tough and very fit. Another couple women were running around at various points throughout the day. And then many people seemed to just be on their daily bike rides to and from work. The campus of the University of Potsdam is actually on the park grounds, so there were lots of professor-types and college students going to and fro. It must be amazing to go to college there, if only for the scenery.
I'm pretty worn out at this point in the trip. I guess I'm feeling my age? Luckily, Ryan seems to have enough energy for both of us, so I'm just going along with it, enjoying the ride as much as possible. It's hard not to get overwhelmed. I'm getting much less anxious about my German, but making travel plans, catching buses, trains, subway trains, following maps, buying tickets, reading signs, asking for directions, well, it's getting tiresome. I'm ready to come home. I've been very pleased to feel less anxious about speaking and listening to and reading German since the last time I was here eight years ago, but it's hard, and at times I still feel like I'm lost. I can understand about half to three-quarters of any given conversation; still, it's frustrating not to have better command of the language. Luckily, my restaurant and cafe skills are awesome, so Ryan and I have no problem getting fed at the end of a long day. We had pizza and pasta tonight as a quick and filling dinner. It was our second time getting pizza, since it's so cheap and easy.
Last night our food was much more exciting. I finally got to meet up with my former housemate A and meet her new girlfriend, D, who is great--very warm and hospitable and so nice to speak English with us, even though it seems like she is a bit uncomfortable with her English. It is remarkable how many times people go out of their way for us, especially since we're the ones who don't speak enough German to converse easily. We met them at their apartment in Mitte (near Kreuzberg), where A showed off her guinea pigs. A and D lent us their extra bikes for the night, so we could quickly bike to dinner at what A called an "Arabic" restaurant, what the sign described as "oriental," and what their menu described as Moroccan and Egyptian. It was mostly like a mixture of North African and Lebanese food: tabouli, baba ganoush, hummus, pita, red beans, rice with chicken and meatballs, spinach, and some other vegetables. It was great. Then after dinner we went to get beer at a nearby bar because the restaurant was run by Muslims, so no alcohol available there. The bike ride was fantastic. I love riding city-style on cruiser bikes. It feels very civilized.
We're going back to A and D's tomorrow for dinner, which they are cooking. I'm so looking forward to it. It's been much too long since I'd seen my old housemate, and we had a great time reminiscing last night.
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